BACKGROUND Whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) result from injury of neck structures that most often occur during traffic accidents as a result of rapid acceleration-deceleration. The dominant symptoms manifest in the musculoskeletal system and include increased fatigue. Because of the frequency of whiplash injuries, a simple, cheap and useful diagnostic tool is needed to differentiate whiplash injury from healthy patients or those faking symptoms. OBJECTIVES To determine muscle fatigue in patients with whiplash injury in six body positions. DESIGN Analytical cross-sectional study. SETTING Emergency center, university hospital. PATIENTS AND METHODS We studied patients with whiplash injury from vehicular traffic accidents who presented to the emergency center within 6 hours of sustaining the injury. We determined whiplash injury grade according to the Quebec Task Force (QTF) classification and measured isometric muscle endurance in six different body positions. Control subjects for each patient were matched by age, gender and anthropomorphic characteristics. Cut-off values were determined to distinguish patients with whiplash injury from controls and for determination of injury grade. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) QTF grade, time to muscle fatigue in seconds. RESULTS From September 2013 to September 2016, we enrolled 75 patients with whiplash injury and 75 matching control subjects. In all six positions, the patients with whiplash injury felt muscle fatigue faster than equivalent controls (P<.05) and the time to onset of muscle fatigue decreased with increasing injury grades in all six positions. Assignment to the patient or control group and to injury grade could be predicted with more than 90% accuracy on the basis of time to muscle fatigue. The most efficient position was the highest injury grade, by which 99.9% of the patients were accurately categorized. Isometric muscle endurance correlated with whiplash injury grade in all six positions (P<.01). CONCLUSION Under clinical conditions, muscle endurance and the appearance of isometric muscle fatigue during testing can be a useful indicator of whiplash injury and grade. LIMITATIONS The size of the sample was small. An objective parameter such as electromyography is needed to confirm isometric muscle fatigue.

Article history: Received 23 March 2017 Received in revised form 8 May 2017 Accepted 18 May 2017 Polycrystalline advanced ceramics is a synthetic product produced by sintering together selected carbide or other tough material grains in a metal matrix. Due to wide and sensitive application of these materials, the accurate and efficient determination of the associated fracture mechanisms is of fundamental importance to material manufacturers and end users alike. An experimental investigation of two different grades of advanced ceramics was performed. The material was found to follow a thermal-decohesion model suggesting that adiabatic conditions occur at the crack tip during fracture.

Rodents with prevailing subterranean activity usually play an important role in the ecosystems of which they are a part due to the combined effect of herbivory and soil perturbation. This is the case for the giant root-rat Tachyoryctes macrocephalus endemic to the Afroalpine ecosystem of the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia. We studied the impact of root-rats on various ecosystem features within a 3.5-ha study locality dominated by Alchemilla pasture, which represents an optimal habitat for this species, in 2 periods of a year. The root-rats altered plant species composition, reducing the dominant forb, Alchemilla abyssinica, while enhancing Salvia merjame and a few other species, and reduced vegetation cover, but not the fresh plant biomass. Where burrows were abandoned by root-rats, other rodents took them over and A. abyssinica increased again. Root-rat burrowing created small-scale heterogeneity in soil compactness due to the backfilling of some unused burrow segments. Less compacted soil tended to be rich in nutrients, including carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, which likely affected the plant growth on sites where the vegetation has been reduced as a result of root-rat foraging and burrowing.

Abstract Lower leg exercises are impacted by the anatomy of the triceps surae-Achilles tendon complex. Such exercises may utilize series elastic energy (SEE), temporarily stored within the Achilles tendon, to augment forces exerted by the triceps surae. While SEE's contribution to bipedal jumping and walking have been assessed, other lower leg exercises yet to receive similar scrutiny include seated calf presses done on flywheel-based hardware. Current subjects did two identical calf press workouts on a flywheel ergometer. The following three variables were obtained from workouts–the total work (TW) performed, net energy costs, and peak blood lactate concentration ([BLa−]). With multivariate regression, four variables correlated with each criterion measures’ variance–lower leg length (LLL) and cross-sectional area (CSA), as well as the lengths of the triceps surae (ML) and Achilles tendon (ATL). Our predictor variables correlated to significant amounts of TW and net energy cost, but not [BLa−] variance. Univariate matrices showed CSA was the best overall predictor for our criterion measures, while ML and ATL were generally weaker correlates. ATL did not have as great an impact as with other lower leg exercises; likely because the slow rate of ankle joint movement greatly limited SEE activity. The limited degree of foot support for ergometer repetitions was also a factor that likely weakened ATL's impact as a correlate. More research on anatomy's impact on this novel form of exercise is warranted.

The aim of the research is to determine how the Sarajevo Film Festival affects the image of the city of Sarajevo and the satisfaction of tourists at tourist destination city of Sarajevo, as well as to establish the relationship between the Sarajevo Film Festival and tourist perception of Sarajevo. The study used a quantitative approach to research, which included data collection through surveys (Face to Face) of respondents, with the use of a questionnaire, specifically created for this study. The population covered by this research are foreign tourists (people who are not citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina), who visited Sarajevo in the period of the Sarajevo Film Festival (15-23. August 2014), as well as in the period of one month before and after it was held (July and September 2014).